According to KTM president Stefan Pierer, the company is developing a 250 or 300cc version of the new KTM 125 Duke and says it should be ready in about 18 months. “We’re working on a 250cc up to 300cc single-cylinder engine, also four valves with twin overhead camshafts,” Pierer told Alan Cathcart. “This has more or less the same external dimensions so we can install it in the existing 125...

According to KTM president Stefan Pierer, the company is developing a 250 or 300cc version of the new KTM 125 Duke and says it should be ready in about 18 months. “We’re working on a 250cc up to 300cc single-cylinder engine, also four valves with twin overhead camshafts,” Pierer told Alan Cathcart. “This has more or less the same external dimensions so we can install it in the existing 125 Duke model platform, and thus be able to offer the level up in the model ladder to our customer as he gains experience.”

Pierer also told Cathcart that the company has already developed a 200cc power-up kit for the 125 Duke that produces 24hp to the stock bike’s 15.

“We'll only have to change the header pipe and maybe the throttle body to install the bigger motor, either as a kit or a straight engine swap,” Robert Prielinger, the head of R&D for the 125, explained to Cathcart. The 200 could even be offered as a separate model in markets not subject to EU learner laws that make the 125cc capacity popular there.

The KTM 125 Duke was released at the Intermot Show in October and is a very significant step for the company into a new market. At €3,500 it represents an affordable entry into the 125cc class, which is the largest bike 16-year-olds can ride in the EU. Manufacturing the bike in partnership with Bajaj from largely India-sourced parts helps deliver that low price and points the way for other, affordable future models. The Duke weighs a very symmetrical 125kg (wet) and, according to Cathcart, will reach an indicated top speed of 77mph. The biggest name in flying around the world and riding new bikes goes on to say that the Duke rides like a larger motorcycle, but the lack of power is frustrating.

“The 250/300 will come around 18 months after the 125 Duke,” continues Pierer. “And the same concept we are doing on the 125/250 I later want to do in the 400cc and 600cc categories, too, as our younger customers and those in emerging markets move up the displacement ladder.”